The present disclosure relates to encryption, and more particularly to a method and system of encrypting and decrypting digital data, designed to thwart attacks by hackers using either classical or quantum computing equipment.
Cryptography exists to meet a privacy need, essential for the well-being of individuals, organizations, and governments. The best cryptography in place today appears to fail too often in protecting privacy at any level of society. Public concern has risen steadily over the past two decades amidst news reports of massive breaches of privacy by hackers. Identity theft with attendant personal financial harm, theft of corporate trade secrets, rogue ransom and extortion attacks, and embarrassment for government entities have become all too common.
Hackers are individuals or groups that attempt to gain access to records and communications for which the hacker is not an intended recipient. The outcome of successful hacking ranges from inconvenient to intensely threatening to custodians of records or to persons communicating. Hackers can include relatively novice users utilizing off-the-shelf malevolent software created by others, sophisticated criminal gangs, and even sophisticated nation-state governments. Hacking is a growth industry at every level.
Existing private key/public key encryption systems are under threat from the rise of quantum computing. A fundamentally different method of encryption is needed to withstand quantum computing's twin attack method—algorithmic assault on patterns to eliminate paths to wrong answers combined with extremely robust brute force capability.